Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Chicken Pot Pie made fresh & Homemade EXCEPT for the secret ingredient! Are you ready? Ok, here is the secret, PEROGIES !!! Potato & Onion Perogies ! This TWIST on Chicken Pot Pie is so AWESOME! the mashed potato filling of the perogies adds a whole other layer of flavor & texture of SUMPTUOUSNESS to an old fashioned Lancaster, Pa FAVORITE! Check out new ideas at the bottom of this recipe it is TERRIFIC!

I can not claim this idea but I wish I could ! My friend Kathy Cooper gave me this idea from her brother. I used my very own Chicken Pot Pie except for his secret ingredient. My Oh My !!! This is even better than HOMEMADE Chicken Pot Pie & I ALWAYS made my own dough until I tried this for my Chicken Pot Pie. Try this & you will NEVER go back to rolling out your own dough & you will NEVER, EVER use those horrible bought pot pie bows noodles. This I promise! Here in Lancaster County, PA our Chicken Pot Pie is not a pretty pie crust stuffed with chicken, potatoes, vegetables, & gravy. No it isn't. That is Chicken Pie. Chicken Pot Pie is a large cooking pot filled with chicken pulled off the bone, swimming in gravy that is loaded with potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, maybe peas, & then big squares of pot pie dough, that are soft yummy squares. In this recipe instead of mixing up dough, rolling out dough, cutting dough & dropping the dough into your boiling pot, you just do the following SURPRISE & it is BETTER than those most yummy squares of dough! Try it & let me know what you think !! For original Amish dough leave out the perogies & follow the dough instructions that I highlighted in pink!

4 Large Chicken Thighs or 2 Thighs & 1 Large Chicken Breast ( For a large batch cook off one chicken)

6 Medium Potatoes peeled & cut in half ( For large batch use 12 )

2 Large Carrots, (6 or more for Large batch) peeled & cut into 2 inch lengths

2 Ribs of Celery cut in 1/2 slices on the diagonal ( 4 Ribs for large batch)

2 Onions Peeled & cut into large dice ( use 4 for large batch)

1 TBS Parsley chopped or dried flakes ( 3 TBS for large batch)

1 Bag of Potato & Onion Perogies 13 oz bag ( use 5 for large batch) 12 Perogies are in a bag so IF you need more than 3 Perogies for your hungry crew just use more bags. This is a stomach filling dish & we find 1 bag is just right but go ahead & knock yourself out with as many Perogies as you need!

Optional 1 cup Frozen Peas or Lima Beans ( not traditional but good!) I used peas.

1 TBS Cornstarch dissolved into 1 Cup Cold Water

Cook chicken in lightly salted water that covers the chicken 2 inches above the chicken. Cook until done. Remove chicken & let cool. Meanwhile in boiling chicken broth that you just removed the chicken from add the onion,celery,carrots & potatoes. Boil until carrots & potatoes are cooked fork tender. About 45 minutes. Check for being done with a long pronged fork. Add parsley & perogies . Cook on the boil. While this is cooking remove meat from the bones & add to the pot. Stir every so often so perogies do not stick. Cook about 1/2 hour. If Pot Pie needs thickened up slowly stir in your cornstarch mixture. Cook & stir until thick like a nice thick gravy. Serve piping hot ! A small batch makes enough for 4 servings, large batch about 10 . This is a Lancaster County speciality and I would NEVER had dared to change my recipe until I tried this perogie method. SO GLAD I DID & I am HAPPY to now share it with you! THANK YOU KATHY COOPER! This is usually served up in Lancaster with coleslaw or pickled beets both on this blog. applesauce is a nice touch for a side dish too! You might want a nice dinner roll or biscuit also on this blog. Vegetable sides are normally peas or lima beans unless you added them to the pot pie like I did.
Tonight I made this but used Boneless, Skinless Chicken Tenders, added a large can of Chicken Broth for flavor, used Cheese Perogies & left out the peas, just to switch this up & GLAD I DID! Now I have 2 recipes to pick from with this GREAT IDEA!
For the original Amish dough leave at the perogies & use this dough recipe below highlighted in pink!DOUGH:2 Cups Flour1/2 TSP Salt 3 Eggs beaten with 2 TBS Milk. Place flour & salt in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Pour all of the beaten egg & milk mixture in the well & use a spatula to incorporate the wet into the dry. You will have a stiff wet dough. Roll dough out on a well floured surface. Roll into a large rectangle about 1/4 inch thinness. Cut dough into squares & stir 5 or 6 pieces at a time into your pot that is simmering. Let cook until dough is fluffy & cooked through about 1/2 hour. Stir often so dough does not stick!